The Hakurei Goddess
by Shade Sorcerer
Summary: Reimu Hakurei has died, however, in Gensokyo, death is not always permanent. Unfortunately for her, there are some who wish it were. This story is a sequel to Night Falls Gently, though one could probably get by without reading it.
1. Chapter 1

"It's already been, what, a year? I still can't believe it, myself. You humans really are fragile, aren't you? To think, the human who defeated me, laid low by nothing more than sudden illness. I didn't even get to say goodbye. … Well, I don't know if you liked them, but, I brought some flowers for you. It's a custom, where I come from. Flowers. Bringing them to someone's grave, I mean. … I'm not one to visit graves. In fact, yours is the first grave I've visited. Have I told you that before? … You should- You should feel honored," *sniff* "honored that I'm even bothering with this."  
"Mistress…"  
"Quiet… I know… Dammit, why'd she have to die so soon…"

* * *

"Two years already… Man, time passes fast. Wish Yukari'd told me when you were going. I bought a little something for you. Most Oni wouldn't waste sake like this, but you were a damn good friend. Sorry you had to go so soon, most of 'em last a bit longer. I'm… not really very good at this. Sorry. Hope you're doin' well, and all."

* * *

"I was hoping, after five years had passed, I'd be able to visit her without running into anyone else. I'm surprised you even still remember her."  
"Don't say anything like that again, please. I remember all of them, quite vividly. None of them were quite so… Reimu, as she was, but I still visit all of them. I'm honestly surprised, however, that you decided to show up. I didn't think you even liked her that much."  
"She's the only person that treated me just like anybody else she'd meet. Of course I liked her. … I can't imagine that you'd feel the same, though. You probably like being special."  
"It does have its perks, but… You'd be surprised."  
"... Tell me it gets easier."  
"I'd be lying."  
"I don't care."  
"... Then, it does. It does get easier." *sniff*

* * *

And so it continued, until…

"Man, I think my time's all wonky. Maybe I oughta go talk to Sakuya about it or something. It feels like forever since I saw you, and yet it kinda feels like it was just yesterday that we was fightin' each other, when Yukari made the night last so long. Remember that, Reimu? Haha, I kinda got curbstomped, didn't I? … I swear, sometimes I can still hear your voice in my head."  
"Marisa."  
"Kinda like that. It's funny. Well, no it isn't. It's weird, but sometimes I just kinda, forget that you're dead. I still expect, every time I come to the shrine, to see ya sittin' out front, drinkin' tea, or what have you. Complainin' about the lack of donations and all."  
"Marisa!"  
"Yellin' at me for ruinin' things and makin' a mess. The new one does that too, Reika? She been here yet? I told her she oughta come visit you. She's a good girl, that one. A bit out of it, sometimes, though."  
"Marisa, shut up! I'm over here!"

Marisa blinked a few times, then lifted her head and looked toward the source of the voice. "R-Reimu!?"  
"Don't ask me. I was dead, and now I'm here," the shrine maiden, looking as she ever did, said. She folded her arms. "And what took you so long?"  
"E-Excuse me? What took _me_ so long? It's been ten years, you lazy bum! If you were gonna come back, I'd think you could'a done it a little sooner! 'What took you so long' my ass," Marisa said.  
"W-well, I came back, like, two months ago, but only the new girl and a bunch of youkai ever visited, and I wanted you or Yukari to be the first to know I was back." Reimu looked away. "Sorry. I didn't realize it'd been that long."  
Marisa glared at her. "Are you callin' me short?"  
Reimu glared back. "Maybe I am." The two held their looks for a time, until both burst out laughing.  
"Man, you don't even know how much everybody's missed you. But, uh, you seriously have no idea how you came back?" Marisa said. Reimu nodded. "Well, you don't look like a ghost, and I can guarantee that you ain't an evil spirit, so… let's go back to my house, and lemme run some tests. I get the feeling you had the right idea not showing yourself to anybody, so…" Reimu nodded once more.

Several hours passed as Marisa became increasingly frustrated with the failures of her tests to determine anything. Completing the last test, the witch sighed. "Well, the bad news is that I've got no clue what the hell you are." Reimu grumbled, but Marisa then lifted her head and grinned. "However, the good news is, that means I've got a pretty damn good idea of what you are."  
"How does that work?" Reimu tilted her head.  
"Uh, how'd that go again? Summin' like, uh, 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,' or something like that. You're not a ghost, a spirit, a phantom, a poltergeist, a demon, a yukkuri-"  
"Alright, I get- wait, what was that last one?" Reimu said.  
Marisa chuckled. "An incident, from six years ago. I think that Rokurokubi from a while back still has one or two. Gotta admit, that was certainly one'a the… stranger… things I've seen." The witch shook her head. "Well, anyways. I don't actually know how possible my theory is, but I do know who I can ask. You… probably oughta stay here for now, though. I don't wanna accidentally end up startin' a holy war or anything."  
Reimu raised an eyebrow. "A… holy war?"  
Marisa grinned. "Welp, I'm off to see the goddesses. See ya!" She bolted off, leaving Reimu alone in the witch's mess of a house.

Another several hours later, and Marisa returned. "So, yep. I was entirely not definitely wrong."  
"And that means…" Reimu said, crossing her arms.  
"Hey, Reimu, guess what? You're a goddess!" Marisa said with a big grin.  
"I'm a _what_!?" Reimu said, jaw dropping. " _How_?"  
"Well, according to Kanako and Suwako, you were pretty darn close to the gods even when you were alive. They said that it was possible that, if enough people visited your grave with the wish that you weren't dead, you might be able to come back as a lesser goddess." Marisa thought for a bit. "Oh, and Suwako said that we should probably get you back to your shrine." She chuckled. "I guess it really is _your_ shrine now, isn't it?"  
Reimu scratched her head. "I… guess so?" She shook her head. "But, wait, they figured it out?"  
"Suwako did. I don't think Kanako realized, though. I'm pretty sure the froggy's smart enough not to tell anybody, though," Marisa said. "I think Reika's gonna find out pretty quick once we get back there, though. We oughta just come clean about it, at least to her. K?"  
Reimu shrugged. "You're the one that knows her."


	2. Chapter 2

"Reika? Are you here?" Marisa asked upon entering the Hakurei shrine.  
"Marisa? You're wearin' your old get-up." Suika half-stumbled into the room Marisa was in.  
Marisa nodded. "I always wear this when I visit Reimu. It doesn't do me any good if she can't recognize me. Now, do you know where that hard-head went?"  
"Went out to spend time with'at darkness youkai, I guess," Suika said. "What you wanna talk to her about?"  
"It's not really your business right now. I want to get everything sorted with the people directly involved first, so it would actually be best if you went back up to heaven for a little while," Marisa said.  
Suika nodded. "K, then. See ya later, Marisa." She left the shrine and flew away.

"What was that, Marisa?" Reimu materialized next to the witch.  
Marisa started. "Gah! Holy- Reimu, don't do that next to people!"  
"You'd think, given where we live, that you'd be used to it by now." Reimu chuckled.  
"Yeah, but I'm not used to you being the one that's doin' it! Now if it were Yukari or somebody…" Marisa's grin faded. "Which reminds me. Reimu, you aren't going to like what I'm about to say, but keep your mouth shut and just do what I tell you to, okay?"  
Reimu raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Marisa? What's going on?"  
"There's no way Yukari doesn't know that you're back, so why is she taking so long to come visit? And don't assume she's asleep. Never just assume Yukari's asleep. And even then, it's getting late, so even if she was asleep, she'd be waking up soon. And, another thing to consider; if any Hakurei shrine maiden could become a minor goddess, then why did this shrine not have any until now?" Marisa crossed her arms and looked pointedly at Reimu.  
Reimu huffed. "The shrine always had gods, they were just…"  
"Just what? Gone? Missing? Any other words to describe 'notably absent'? Something happened to them, Reimu, and I'm willing to bet my whole library that 'something' involved Yukari," Marisa said.  
"Alright, then, say we assume Yukari's the bad guy, here, then what? What are we gonna do to stop her? I haven't fought since I came back, but I can tell it'll be different. I wouldn't be able to get used to it fast enough to beat her, of all people. I'd rather just assume that you're wrong, and then if she does try anything, then I guess we'll give it our all, won't we?" Reimu crossed her arms.  
"Actually, I can stop her. That's probably why she hasn't shown, yet. But, I need to go get Reika. Otherwise, knowing her, she'll be out all night playing with Rumia and them. So, I'm going to stop Yukari from entering this room. However, that means you'll absolutely a hundred percent _**need**_ to stay in this room. Do you understand?" Marisa said, emphasizing her point by pointing at the center of the room.  
Reimu sighed. "Marisa, not to be rude-"  
Marisa cut her off. "Reimu, ten years is a long-ass time. Trust me." The witch cast her spell, and left to go get the new girl. Reimu sighed and sat at the kotatsu in the entrance of her shrine.

* * *

The problem with getting Reika was finding her. Even after her seal had been removed, Rumia never really stayed in one place. In fact, the only two of their group that were really findable were Cirno and Mystia. Marisa didn't have the cash on hand to buy lamprey, so hopefully Cirno'd know where the two of them were. To the Palace of Ice it was, then. But first, she transformed her clothes back to her normal white shirt and blue skirt. Didn't need everybody asking her why she was wearing her old clothes.

Marisa knocked on the door to the rather small ice-made palace. A small fairy opened the door and said "Oh, Lady Marisa. Boss's upstairs."  
"Thanks, Jill." Marisa floated up the stairs, not wanting to embarrass herself by slipping on the ice… again.

"Oh, hey, Marisa! Been a while since you came around," Cirno said.  
"Yeah, sorry about that. Reika's been keepin' me busy. This place is a bit smaller than the last time I was here, though," Marisa said with a grin.  
"You really haven't been here since then? Wow… But, yeah, I figured, that, since I wasn't causing any incidents, I didn't need the big, imposing building anymore. It's a heck of a lot easier to maintain this then it was to keep all that garbage frozen in the middle of summer. Anyways, what brings you around? Another incident?" Cirno said, crossing her arms.  
"Not yet. Hopefully it won't be, but…" Marisa said.  
"You wanted to know where Reika was, just in case it became one, right? Well, I _might_ know, but…" Cirno grinned.  
"I don't mean to be rude, Cirno, but I really don't have the time right now. If this does become an incident, the main instigator is going to be Yukari. And if my guess is right, she'll be tossing the rules to the wind for it." Marisa sighed.  
Cirno raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that bad?" She shook her head. "Fine, but I expect you to at least come visit within the month, then."  
"I'll try, but… Can't make any promises, you know," Marisa said.  
"Course. Well, Reika and Rumia showed up a little before sundown and said they were gonna go visit Yuuka. I don't have any idea what they wanted to do over there, but…" Cirno shrugged. "She's probably kicked them out by now, though. You know her."  
Marisa chuckled. "Yeah, kinda like Reimu was, ain't she, nowadays. Except worse." They were both silent for a time. "I'm kinda worried about her. It's good that they went to visit, but… I'm not exactly sure that _those_ two are the best to try and pull Yuuka out of whatever weird, flowery shell she crawled into."  
"Yeah, I get what you mean." Cirno sighed. "Man, I miss Reimu." She made a sound something along the lines of a laugh, but it sounded more upset than anything. "Now I'll never really know when I do become the strongest."  
"Still hung up on that? Well, I'm pretty sure I measure up pretty equal to her, now. You might just be able to compare yourself to her yet." Marisa gave a sad little smile.  
"You know I'm bullshitting about why I miss her," Cirno said.  
"Yeah, I know." Marisa sighed. "Well, I'll be off." The witch waved goodbye, and the ascended fairy responded in kind.

* * *

Marisa'd been standing at the door to Yuuka's manor for twenty minutes. She was starting to get a little irritated. "Yuuka Kazami, get your sorry ass out here before I bust down the doors and drag you out myself!"  
The door slammed open, almost striking Marisa in the face. The Flower Master dragged herself out, her clothes disheveled and her hair long and unkempt. "What."  
Marisa glared at this sorry excuse for a once-legendary youkai. "Yuuka, it's been ten damned years. People die. Get the fuck over it."  
"You don't under-"  
Marisa shoved her face into Yuuka's. "I don't understand? What the fuck don't I understand? Compared to me, you hardly fucking knew her, and yet I'm the one that's trying to get _you_ out of a funk? Are you just going to lock yourself up and forget that the rest of the world exists because humans die?"  
Yuuka pushed the witch away from her. "Yes." She grabbed the door and tried to yank it shut.  
Marisa shoved her broom's shaft into the doorway, keeping it open. "I'm not done yet. If you really want to live an empty life, that's fine by me, but Reika and Rumia were here earlier. Do you know where they went?"  
"Mystia's. I think." Yuuka kicked the broom out of the way and slammed the door. Marisa shook her head and flew off.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Sorry this one's a bit late. My Beta-Reader was busy at a con all weekend, seeing all sorts of cool stuff I didn't get to see. Paru paru...

* * *

Reimu was about fed up with waiting in the entrance of her shrine. It'd been nearly two hours, and nothing had happened. She sighed. As much as she wanted to get up and do something, though, she trusted Marisa. More than she trusted Yukari, at least, when it came to anything other than the safety of Gensokyo as a whole. Reimu held no doubts that, if Yukari thought Reimu dieing would be beneficial for Gensokyo overall, Yukari would kill her. Begrudgingly, and not without sadness, she hoped, but the youkai would still kill her.

Thus, Reimu decided her only choice was to stay in the room. It was when she tried to go to sleep to pass the time that she realized she hadn't slept at all in the past two months. Well, ten years, really, but most of that didn't count. She shook her head. Now that she was trying to go to sleep, it felt… weird. It felt more like it did when she was floating away from reality then just falling asleep.

"If you intend to follow Marisa's advice, I'd recommend not trying that." So, she was still around.  
"I thought I sealed you away for good that last time," Reimu said.  
Mima floated out of the wall, grinning. "Nah, it just took me a little longer than usual to break that one."  
"Of course. And how many times has the new girl sealed you up?" Reimu crossed her arms. Really, though, she was glad to have somebody there to talk to, as much as the spirit loved to rub her the wrong way.  
"Oh, she actually hasn't at all. Of course, my first interaction with Reika wasn't me trying to kill her. Neither was my second, surprisingly. I imagine the lack of murder attempts helped me stay free," Mima said.

Reimu shrugged. "Well, on another note, you don't seem surprised at all to see me here."  
"Reimu, have you ever known me to be surprised, in all these many years?" Mima said with a flourish.  
"Well, when I batted the Hakurei orb into your face, you looked pretty darn surprised." Reimu smirked.  
Mima coughed. "Uhm, moving on… I figured you'd be coming back. You are the most famous Hakurei in generations. I can't imagine a little thing like death keeping you down. Though, I'll be honest, I wasn't quite expecting you to come back as a goddess." The spirit crossed her arms.  
Reimu shrugged. "I wasn't expecting to come back at all, but eh. What happens, happens." She paused. "I hope you're not going to try and get rid of me so you can keep claiming to be the goddess of the shrine."  
Mima shook her head. "Gensokyo's learned that getting on Marisa's bad side is generally not a good idea, over these past ten years." The spirit chuckled. "I was worried, when she decided to not become a proper Magician, a while back, but she was right. That little time limit you humans have- those humans have- certainly seems to have motivated her."  
"So she is still human. I'm glad she decided not to become a youkai," Reimu said.  
"Are you?" Mima said, an eyebrow raised.  
"What do you mean?" Reimu said.  
"This might not have hit home for you, yet, but when Marisa's on her deathbed, you're going to look absolutely no different than you do at this very moment. And then, when Marisa's kids, if she has any, are dieing, you'll look the same as you do now. And then, when Marisa's great-great-"  
"Alright, I get it! Just, be quiet." Reimu shook her head. She sighed and put her head in her hands.

The shrine was silent for a time, as the moon climbed into the sky. Reimu looked at the spirit, and said "So, what did you mean, telling me not to go to sleep?"  
"Well, it was mostly because you were kind of disappearing as you tried. You've got to remember that what things did when you were human aren't necessarily the same as what they'll do now that you're a goddess," Mima said. "Now, I think she'll be back soon, so I'll be off. Don't want to get in the way of your private time, after all." Mima floated back through the wall, grinning.

"Hey Reimu, I found Reika, finally. Now come on, get out here!" Marisa's voice came from outside the shrine.  
"If you were really Marisa, you'd just come in here," Reimu called out.  
Marisa walked into the shrine, grinning. "Good ta see that you didn't get stupid when you died. Come on in, Reika." No one entered. Reimu looked at Marisa, who sighed. "Hold on a bit, Reimu. She's probably spacin' out out there." Marisa got up and left the entrance. Reimu could still hear her talking to Reika, though. "Reika, what are you doing? I told you to get into the shrine."  
"Oh, I'm sorry. It just feels more peaceful here than normal, so I kinda lost myself."  
"Yeah, I'm sure you'll figure out why after we get inside."  
"Oh, I already did. I thought it was obvious, actually. The shrine actually has a god now, right?"  
"Gods, Reika, how are you so slow and so quick at the same time?" Reimu actually felt something when Marisa said 'gods'. That was going to take some time to get used to. "Also, _more_ peaceful? Knowing her, it's just going to get rowdy around here, now."  
"I can still hear you, you know," Reimu said.  
"When have I ever cared?" Marisa said.

Reimu gave Reika a good look, now that she had a good view of her. She was tall, or taller than Reimu and Marisa, at least, and had her short brown hair in pigtails. "Your hair's short."  
"It's a pain to take care of when it's long, and it gets in my eyes," Reika said.  
"Why do you care how long her hair is?" Marisa said, raising an eyebrow.  
"She's my shrine maiden. Her hair should be long." It really wasn't that big of a deal, but she'd look better with long hair.  
"But, why? Why in the wo-"  
"Fine."  
Marisa looked at Reika, blinking. "Buh-what? You're just gonna-"  
"Shrine maidens are the servants of their gods. If the god of their shrine commands something, that isn't utterly unreasonable, from them, they must do their best to act on that command. They are also the representatives of their gods, and thus should do their utmost to best represent said gods," Reimu and Reika said simultaneously, looking at Marisa.  
"I'll never understand you religious-types, will I?" the witch said. She shook her head, then sighed and looked at Reimu. "So, you ready for this?"  
Reimu nodded. "As I'll ever be." Reika looked at the two of them questioningly.

Marisa dropped the wards she'd placed around the room. "Well, Yukari? Are you going to grace us with your presence?"


	4. Chapter 4

Several hours had passed, with no sign of the Youkai of Boundaries. Reika had fallen asleep a while ago, but Marisa had found a way around needing sleep, and it seemed like Reimu didn't need it either.  
"Totally the bad guy, huh, Marisa?" Reimu smirked at the witch.  
"She's probably just waiting for me to leave so that I'm not in the way," Marisa said. She was no less sure of herself now than she had been when she originally told Reimu to stay in the room. "You know, Yukari, that I can just send out Reika to resolve any incidents that happen while we're having our little war of attrition, right?"  
"Marisa, face it, she's not involved in whatever caused the others to not be here." Reimu said.  
Marisa always knew Reimu tended to take things at face value, but this was a little ridiculous. "Well, then, why ain't she here yet? It's long past when she wakes up, and I've been actively calling to her. She knows you're back. So why the hell hasn't she shown up?"

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had something pressing to take care of." Marisa turned towards the voice of the gap demon. "Marisa, I'm a busy woman. Do you truly think that makes me a villain?"  
"No, I think you being a villain makes you a villain," Marisa said. She turned to Reika. "Hey, sleepy, wake up. Business time." Reika snapped awake.  
"Yukari. What took you so long?" the shrine maiden said.  
"As I said earlier, I had important business to which I needed to attend." Of course she wasn't actually going to _say_ what 'business' she had to attend to. In other words, she was bullshitting.  
"See, Marisa. She just had other things to do. She probably doesn't really care that much about me, so seeing me wasn't at the top of her priority list." Reimu was… As Reimu always was.  
"GodsDAMNit, Reimu, how thick are you?" Marisa said. Reimu glared at the witch, who shook her head. "Fine, then, what business was _so_ pressing that coming to visit _Reimu_ took second place? Please, I would be _ecstatic_ to learn that I'm wrong, seriously." While she probably could take on Yukari, she'd really rather not have to try.  
"Nothing you need be concerned with, little witch," Yukari said with a grin.  
Marisa shoved her face into the youkai's. "Yukari, if it was more pressing than Reimu, it's something I need to know."  
Yukari sighed. "I suppose, but it's not something I need bother Reimu or Reika with." She turned toward the two she had mentioned. "A moment, if you please," she said, before disappearing into a gap. Marisa quickly placed a ward on Reimu before she was taken by a gap as well.

"Marisa, I know how you feel about this, bu-"  
"No. You are not killing Reimu again," Marisa said.  
"It's ne-"  
"You are _not_ killing Reimu _again_."  
Yukari winced. "I have to."  
"You don't have to do jack," Marisa said.  
"Do you think I _want_ to, then?"  
It was Marisa's turn to wince. "Sorry."  
"It's more than understandable."  
"Why, then?" Marisa said.  
"Has Reika not told you? The barrier has been weakening," Yukari said.  
"And that's because of Reimu?" Marisa raised an eyebrow.  
"Indirectly. Reika needs the powers of the Hakurei line in order to keep the barrier intact."  
So, Yukari was planning on doing what the mountain god did to that hell raven? Marisa shook her head. "So, why not just have her channel Reimu's power then? I don't see why you need to go Kanako on them."  
"If that would work, I would do it."  
"When's the last time you tried? You've seen how much we've all progressed, even in just the past ten years."  
Yukari sighed. "If you truly believe that you've surpassed me, I will allow you to test that. Note, however, that this will be nothing so minor as an incident. This will be a war."  
"As if I expected anything else." Marisa lacked any sense of the playfulness she usually had while saying that.

"Do you understand the true meaning of that, is the question."  
"You'll be giving your all, for once in your life, and I'll be bringing along everyone I plan to have help me save Reimu and Gensokyo." Marisa crossed her arms.  
Yukari's eyes narrowed. "You will not be bringing anyone but yourself, Marisa. I cannot allow anyone else to know what truly happens when a Hakurei dies. And, if you fail, and it must continue, you will die."  
"I realized that. Reimu's way more important than I am."  
"As I already said, if there was a better way, I would take it immediately."  
"Then stop being stubborn and help me find a better way. You'll never find it if you never look," Marisa said.  
"Hmph. Well, shall we begin?"  
"If you're going to be like this about it, then I suppose we have no choice. I will tell at least Reimu about this, though."  
"I suppose there's no helping it now. Reimu would find our absence suspicious anyways."

* * *

Note: The last part of this chapter feels a bit off to me, but I can't quite place why. My beta-reader didn't say anything about it, but if any of you have any ideas, please let me know.


	5. Chapter 5

When Yukari took Marisa to speak in private, Reimu knew that Marisa was right. However, when she took the job as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, she was already prepared to sacrifice herself for Gensokyo. She'd wanted it to happen quietly, for Marisa to not have to watch again, but that was the only thing those two could be discussing.  
"Lady Reimu?" Reika's voice shook her from her thoughts.  
"Yeah? What is it?" Reimu said.  
"Well, what are you going to do?" Reika said.  
Reimu thought. It hurt her to abandon Marisa, but she couldn't see the witch as being anything other than, well, a witch. And almost all of Reimu's other friends were youkai, anyway. And, wouldn't Reimu herself fade if the border collapsed? She shook her head. "I really don't see any way out of this one. If Marisa can't figure something out, then I'll need to let Yukari do what she will. If we can't save me _and_ the border, then saving me wouldn't even actually save me."  
Reika nodded.

Yukari and Marisa returned, neither of them looking particularly happy. Yukari sighed. "Reimu, I…"  
"I know. If you and Marisa can't find a way to save me and the border, well… I already sacrificed myself for Gensokyo once. The second time can't be half as bad, right?" Reimu said. She'd really like to believe that, but one thing that Yukari hadn't mentioned back then, was that dying hurt. Seemed obvious enough, but there was a difference between the kind of hurt that came from a danmaku duel, or even an actual fight, and the hurt that came from dying. She was willing to go through it again, if it would save everyone else, but… It would be really, really nice if that didn't have to happen.  
"Reimu, I know how you-"  
"No, Marisa. Besides, if the border falls, I'll disappear anyway. And, Yukari, I imagine you're going to have some stupid test for Marisa. If you kill her, I will never, ever forgive you," Reimu said. The gap demon winced, proving Reimu's suspicions.  
Marisa looked away from Reimu. "You're too good for your own good," she muttered.  
Yukari sighed, then looked at Marisa. "Well, are you ready?"  
Marisa's head remained down. "As I'll ever be." Yukari left through a gap which closed behind her, and opened another for Marisa. The witch looked at Reimu. "Just in case, I wanna-"  
"Marisa, shut up. You'll be fine." Reimu grinned at her.  
Marisa gave a small smile. "Thanks, Reimu. I'll be back. I promise." The witch waved goodbye, walking through the gap.

Once the gap closed, Reika looked at Reimu. "With all due respect, Lady Reimu, you're all idiots."  
That didn't sound very respectful, but… "What do you mean?"  
"Well, first of all, none of you realized that Rumia came with me," Reika said.  
Reimu looked around, but the youkai of darkness was nowhere to be found. Reika grinned and pointed at her shadow, which was waving at Reimu. "Wait, since when could she do that?" Reimu said.  
Rumia popped out of Reika's shadow. "Ever since that ribbon fell off."  
Reimu leapt back and summoned the Hakurei Orb.  
"Woah, hey, calm down!" Rumia said, putting her hands up.  
"Why? You're the monster that… Well, you did something really bad, didn't you?" Reimu said.  
Rumia grinned. "Wouldn't have been sealed for a thousand years if I didn't, right? But, being wimpy teaches people things being strong can't. And besides, what was really strong a thousand years ago is only kinda strong now. And I didn't do anything half as bad as that Mima lady that came out of nowhere."

Reimu looked around, expecting Mima to appear at the sound of her name. To her surprise, however, the vengeful spirit remained absent. Maybe she went somewhere else? Reimu shook her head and dismissed the Hakurei Orb. "Anyway, you want to actually explain why you called me, Yukari, and Marisa idiots?"  
"Well, those two are so clever that they're being dumb," Rumia said.  
"And you trust them too much. They're not always right," Reika said.  
"Like that time Marisa thought I was going to go berserk, and Reika had to protect me," Rumia said.  
"Or that time that Yukari tossed a giant metal train at a metal-manipulating suit of armor," Reika said.  
"Or that other time-"  
"Focus, please? Trying to save Gensokyo and all?" Reimu said.

"Uh, right, sorry. Anyways, they were both so certain that _they_ had to save you and or Gensokyo that they didn't even think that _you_ might be able to save you and Gensokyo." Reika grinned. Reimu tilted her head. "Well, think about it. What are you the goddess of, anyway?" Reika said.  
"Protection." The word came, unbidden, out of Reimu's mouth before she even had time to think about the question. Despite the word coming out without Reimu's consent, however, it sounded right. "I guess."  
Rumia nodded, and Reika said "I thought so." Reimu tilted her head. "I mean, the job of the Hakurei shrine maiden is to protect the humans from the youkai, the youkai from the humans, and Gensokyo as a whole from idiots that think they're clever," Reika said.  
Reimu chuckled. She'd certainly done her fair share of that last one. "And this time it's Marisa and Yukari." Reika nodded. "Well, then, so you think I can just use my… protection powers on the border? Because things are never that simple," Reimu said.  
"Well, we could try it at least," Rumia said.  
Reimu shrugged and shook her head. She could tell this wasn't going to work, although she wasn't quite sure why she was so sure. She reached out to the border anyways, though, and tried to 'protect' it. All that happened was that she expended energy with seemingly no effect on the border at all. She felt Reika 'touch' the border, and look around. Reimu went back to herself and said "Well, I just tried to protect the border, and I didn't sense any change. You?" She looked at Reika.  
"I guess that was a little too easy." Reika shook her head.

"Maybe you're just too wimpy," Rumia said. "I mean, how many people actually pray to you?"  
Reimu blinked. "I don't think anybody else knows I'm even back, so, nobody?"  
"That might explain it," Reika said. "So, while those two are busy trying to be clever, our job is to get you some faith." The shrine maiden nodded like that was the simplest thing in the world. Unless she'd gotten a lot more regular visitors than Reimu had, which, if the donation box was any indication, she hadn't, the regular daily attendance at the shrine was about three to five youkai, way too many fairies, and Marisa. Not exactly a formula for getting faith quick.  
"And, how do you intend to start getting me some faith?" Reimu said.  
"I'm sure Cirno could help," Rumia said.  
Cirno? Really? "How is that dumb ice fairy going to help anything?" Reimu said.  
"Uh… fairies…?" Reika said hopefully.  
Reimu shook her head. "We are not going out of our way to get Cirno of all people."  
Reika prostrated herself and said "Please, can we have Cirno help?"  
Reika was… that was… "Stop that. You're praying to me, for me to change my mind. Do you have _any_ idea how weird that feels? It's… I can't even try to explain it. Just, stop, and we'll go get Cirno." Reika sat up and grinned while Reimu tried to clear her head. That was the strangest thing Reimu had ever felt, and she had no desire to feel it any more. If Kanako and Suwako had to live with that their whole lives, no wonder they were a bit off.

* * *

Note: I'd like to address something which has occurred on several of my stories by this point. I have gotten several reviews recently that simply stated something along the lines of "I like this." While the positive thoughts are welcome, something that simple is not particularly helpful for me as a writer trying to improve, or for potential readers who are trying to use the reviews to judge whether they should read the story or not. If you plan to leave a review, I implore you to point out even just one particular thing you liked or disliked about my story. Especially disliked, because A. I need that information to improve my stories and my writing skills, and B. I need to get better at receiving criticism. I admit, I am an arguer, and I need to learn how to sit down, shut up, and listen. Honestly, if you do not wish to do that, even just questions about the future of a story, or about a character, or something, are still more helpful than a three word review, positive or negative. Rant over, and I hope I did not imply that I disliked any of my readers. I simply wish to try and make this a more productive community where we all help each other get better. Wow, that sounded cheesy, even if it's true.


	6. Chapter 6

Cirno often thought about apologizing to everyone for all the time she'd been a fairy. It would mess with the image she was trying to present, though, so it was a no go. This particular instance was brought about due to it being hardly six in the morning and already she had three invitations to go play, six complaints about other fairies, two problems to solve, three prank threats, and one actual case of being pranked. Where they even got the eggs, Cirno had no idea, but it was a pain to clean up. At least Jill was around to help. She'd be able to keep people away while Cirno cleaned. Well, anyone who wasn't important enough for Cirno to take the time out of her day to see.

As annoying as it was, Cirno was glad that the prank had given her some time to think on her own. She was worried about last night. Anything that had Marisa and Yukari fighting, without Reimu's rules, was a problem. She'd do her best to keep the fairies from getting involved, but, well, it wasn't like she didn't make promises for no reason. Maybe it had something to do with Marisa's resurrection research? Yukari definitely seemed to be doing everything she could to stop Marisa from doing that. Probably had something to do with the border. Cirno wasn't really sure how Yukari'd pulled the transition from Reimu to Reika anyways, maybe if Reimu came back it would screw something up. Cirno shook her head and got back to trying to scrape up frozen egg whites. If anybody needed her help, they'd come ask her.

"Hey, Boss, Reika n' Rumia're here. Say they got somebody you wanna see. Should I let 'em in?" Jill's voice came from behind Cirno. They were here this early? Maybe that incident had already started up.  
Cirno nodded. "Let 'em in." Probably had something to do with Marisa. Probably got herself in over her head. The ascended fairy stood up and brushed herself off. Whatever it was, it was certainly important for them to come at this awkward time. Cirno chuckled a bit. The Hakurei Maidens were sure becoming more and more youkai-like. Sleeping during the day and playing at night? What would Reimu think? She shook her head. Didn't want to be staring off into space when Reika, Rumia, and whoever got here. She covered what was left of the eggs with a sheet of ice and made a mental note to finish cleaning it up later. Didn't need her meeting room smelling like rotten eggs.

A bit later, in walked Reika, Rumia, and-

"Uh, Cirno?"

"I thought you said she got smarter."

"I think her brain broke from seeing you."

"It better unbreak. I didn't agree to come see her just so that we could stand around like idiots forever."

"I'm not an idiot, you're the idiot, idi-..." Cirno's instinctive reaction shook her out of her shock. "Uh, sorry about that."  
"Wow, that actually comes naturally to you, doesn't it?" Reimu said with a bit of a grin.  
"N-no," Cirno said. She shook her head. "But, how are you back?"  
"Long story short, I'm a goddess now. Because Reika doesn't have all my power in her, the Border is collapsing. Yukari and Marisa both think they're the only ones that can fix it, and are fighting over which way to do it. I'd like to prove them both wrong," Reimu said.  
Cirno was quiet for a while, processing that. She nodded. "Not the strangest thing that's happened around here. But why do you think I can help?"  
Reimu looked at Reika and Rumia, eyes narrowed.  
"Uh… Fairies?" Reika said.  
Cirno shook her head. "Trying to get more than three of them to agree to anything is almost impossible. If you're looking for a get-faith-quick scheme, don't look to me."  
"I thought not," Reimu said, glaring at the newer shrine maiden.  
"At least I had _an_ idea. I didn't hear you offer up anything," Reika said.  
"Well, maybe if you hadn't distracted me with that thing you did, I would have come up with something," Reimu said. "Which I actually did on our way over here. Is Aya still running that newspaper or whatever?"  
Cirno nodded. "Yeah. the Bunbunmaru's still running. You want to put an ad in the classifieds?"  
"Does anyone have a better idea?" Reimu said. No one said anything, and Reimu continued. "If there really were enough people who wanted me back that I could revive as a goddess, then it should be cake to get a decent amount of faith from Aya's newspaper."

"So, then, off to the mountain, I guess?" Reika said. Reimu nodded.  
"I just thought of this, actually, but, Reimu? Do you even have any idea how you're going to fix the border in the first place? It'd be better to have something more specific than 'Fix it', I think," Rumia said.  
Reimu put her hand on her chin, then shook her head. "I really have no idea. If I was the one who sealed us off in the first place, maybe, but I have no idea how she did it."  
Sealed off… That sounded… "Hey, Reika? You've visited Yuuka at her mansion before. Isn't it in a sealed off portion of dreamworld or something like that?" Cirno said.  
Reika's face lit up. "Yeah, it is! And I think she sealed it away herself, so we could go ask her for… Except she hasn't left her mansion since you died, apparently, Reimu." Reika frowned.  
Cirno grinned. "Well, then, we'll just have to bust our way in and beat her up 'til she tells us, won't we?"  
Reimu chuckled. "Still the first solution to any problem, I see. But, I can't go very far without Reika, without exhausting myself, and I need to visit Aya so that we have proof I'm back. So, I guess Reika and I will go to the mountain, and Rumia and Cirno, you'll have to go visit Yuuka and see if she won't tell you about how she segmented off dreamworld."  
Rumia nodded. "I would say we should get Wriggle and Mystia, but they're probably going to sleep about now, and besides…"  
Cirno grinned. "Yeah, they wouldn't be much help against someone like Yuuka."

On their way out, Cirno gave Jill her usual list of chores and training for the day. She couldn't help but think she was forgetting something, though. Something about eggs or something. Whatever. It probably wasn't important.

* * *

And that's it for the chapters I had on backup. Hopefully, I'll still be able to get out a chapter a week, but if not, I apologize in advance.


	7. Chapter 7

Reimu had stopped manifesting herself before they headed for the mountain. She said she was starting to get tired. Reika inwardly rolled her eyes. She was the one who still needed sleep, and aside from that short nap she had while they were waiting for Yukari to show up, she'd been awake for almost a whole day. She hadn't even gotten her midday nap yesterday, she'd been so busy. Of course, she couldn't just go to sleep in the middle of something like this, but humans couldn't run forever, either. Maybe she could steal a nap when they got to Aya's. Nap…

 _Smack!_

"Ge-hu-bu, I'm awake, I'm awake," she said.  
Reimu shook her head. "Look, I know you're tired, but, well, I'm worried about what Yukari's going to do to Marisa. The faster we get this done, the safer Marisa is. Please, just hold out until we get to Aya."  
Reika nodded slowly. She'd do her best, but she was already nodding off again. She wasn't built for all nighters. Or considering when she actually slept, all morningers. Reimu faded away once more. Reika slapped herself in the face and tried to shake the sleep away. It… didn't really work, but she was cognizant enough at least to tell she was headed in the right direction.

"Sleepy Shrine Maiden invades homes in the early morning! What could she want?" Aya's loud 'reporter' voice roused Reika slightly.  
"Hey, Aya. There's a thing happening, and you might be able to help us fix it," Reika said.  
Aya put her hand to her chin with a 'hm'. "Well, you know I generally don't like getting myself involved in the stories. What am I gonna get outta this?"  
"First access to one of the biggest events of the century," Reika said. It was a bit easier to stay awake when she was actually talking with somebody.  
Aya nodded. "Sounds good, sounds good. But, how can you guarantee that I'm the first to know, and how can you say it's one of the biggest events?"  
Reimu chose that moment to manifest herself. "As to the first, all we need you to do is report it anyways, so if somebody else knew, we wouldn't be here, and as for the second, well, hi."

Aya paled. "I-I-I-I just remembered that, uh, I, uh, I gotta meeting, I gotta go, meet. Um, important, mountain, tengu, meeting, stuff, you know?" As fast as Aya was, though, Reimu's needles were faster, imbedding themselves in Aya's door, not a centimeter from her hand. "Eep!"  
"Let me guess. Yukari?" Reimu said. It was the only thing that made sense. Reika knew that the tengu knew of the downsides to being the Hakurei Maiden, so Yukari had probably also told them about the becoming a goddess thing.  
Aya nodded slowly. "C-can I go now? Sorry, but I can't help you."  
"Fine then. We'll just go visit Hatate and have her publish the story," Reika said. Arguing with Aya would take too long, and this was almost certain to get her to help.  
"Urk. I-I don't think she would help, either," Aya said. She didn't seem terribly confident in that statement though.  
"Really? I feel like Yukari has told as few people as possible, and Hatate's paper is pretty small, isn't it? Not something that Yukari would worry about. And it would give Hatate a chance to grow her paper's following considerably," Reika said.

The air grew heavier, literally. Aya stopped flustering about, and looked directly at Reimu. "And what are you going to do if you fail?"  
Reimu narrowed her eyes at Aya's sudden change in tone. "I'm going to let Yukari do whatever she needs to do."  
"And have you considered what the rest of Gensokyo is going to do when they find out how the Hakurei Border actually works?" Aya said.  
Reika was no longer fighting sleep. Aya's mood shift was doing that for her. "What do you mean?"  
Aya turned toward the shrine maiden. "Only Yukari, Suika, and the Crow Tengu know how the succession of Hakurei Maidens works. Yukari's been keeping it secret from everyone else since the creation of the border. Why do you think she's done that?"  
Reimu sighed. "Because people would get upset. But, do you really think that people aren't going to find out eventually anyway? Better to do it when we can stop it."  
Aya nodded. "I can see how you might think that. Consider, though, Akyuu and Mima. The one whose job it is to record the history of this land, and the one whose existence revolved, for quite some time, at least, around the destruction of the Hakurei. Do either of them know?"  
"Well, Mima does now, but, I guess she didn't beforehand. If she knew that I wasn't actually a Hakurei, she probably wouldn't have bothered attacking me," Reimu said.  
Reika nodded. "She didn't do anything to me, so that would make sense."  
Aya raised an eyebrow. "Did someone tell her?" She shook her head. "She's a powerful spirit. She could probably break through what Yukari has done on her own. However, how do you explain Akyuu? She has seen the deaths of multiple maidens. If _anyone_ was likely to learn of it, it would be her, no? And yet she has no idea."  
What Yukari's done…? "You mean, no one is going to find out on their own?" Reika said.  
Aya nodded. "Unless they have a vested interest in the Hakurei and powerful magic, and it still took Mima over a century and a half to learn of it."  
"So, if we screw up, Gensokyo goes to war with itself. We've dealt with worse than that," Reimu said. "And besides, wouldn't that make a great article for you?"  
"You've never been in an actual war before, especially not one between youkai." Aya glared at her.  
"And you have?" Reimu said, an eyebrow raised.  
"Twice. A very, very long time ago. I survived the war against Mima, before she calmed down, and the war with the moon." Aya crossed her arms and leaned back slightly.

Reika… Well, she didn't want to die early, no matter how much opportunity this job had given her. Then again… all out war? Especially between people like Marisa, Mima, Yukari, and Suika?  
"Well, we'll just have to not fail, then." Reimu sounded like that was the easiest thing in the world. "I mean, I've never failed before, have I?"  
Aya chuckled. "No, I suppose you haven't. Unless you count that time you went to the-"  
"They're overpowered anyway, doesn't count," Reimu said. "And besides, Marisa's also working on it. If the two of us together can't do it, then it'll never happen, and I don't think Yukari could keep everyone in the dark forever."  
"Indeed." Aya chuckled again, and the air returned to normal. "Alrighty then, guess I know what my next article'll be about. Look for it tomorrow morning, everybody! Truthful, honest, and most of all, fast, that's the Bunbunmaru for you! Oh, and don't worry about Lord Tenma, I'm sure he'll understand."  
"I imagine you'll want an interview, but first I have a question for you. What was that?" Reimu said.  
"That'd be top secret, highly sensitive information, and I can't give it out to anybody, sorry. Tenma's orders." The crow tengu winked.  
There were a few silent moments where Reimu stared incredulously at Aya. "No." Reimu shook her head.  
"No what? I didn't say anything." Aya's massive grin was the last thing Reika saw before finally, finally falling asleep.

* * *

Note: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out, but that last bit was bothering me for a while. I tried to fix it and make it more obvious what was going on without just coming right out and saying it, but if anyone's still confused, let me know, and I'll see about rewriting it again. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me through the, what, four weeks of no updates? Sorry again, everyone.


	8. Chapter 8

CH8

Going anywhere near the once beautiful Garden of the Sun nowadays was depressing. Used to be, even when the sunflowers were out of season, any flowers that were in season would litter the landscape, and one could feel the touch of life on everything. Honestly a paradise, especially for fairies, as long as one didn't upset the place's master. Nowadays, it was just, well, it wasn't barren, but it certainly wasn't anything special, and that seemed almost worse. At least, were it a barren wasteland, there would've been something, some sort of monument to what it was at one point.

Depressing as it was, though, Yuuka's Dreamworld portal was past it, so they had to go through anyways. Rumia didn't mind particularly much, but Cirno seemed to be pushing herself through it.  
"So, what's the plan when we get to Yuuka, anyway? When Reika and I were there yesterday, she wouldn't even come out to chase us away," Rumia said, more to distract her friend then out of any worry for a plan. They'd always gotten by without them before… Well, on second thought, maybe a plan _would_ be a good idea. But, neither Rumia nor Cirno, as much as she tried to make people believe otherwise, were good at plans.  
Cirno shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't really tried to talk to her since then. I guess, though, if she's gonna be in a bad mood anyway, we might as well just break in."  
"So, bust in, drag her out, and beat her 'til she talks." Rumia popped her neck. "Reminds me so much of the old days, you might need to stop me from eating her."  
Cirno chuckled. "At least leave her head. She needs to be able to talk."

The vampiric guard of Yuuka's portal to dreamworld simply stood aside and let Rumia and Cirno pass. After what had happened not even twelve hours ago, Rumia couldn't blame her.

As they approached Yuuka's mansion, Rumia held out her hand. "Spear." Cirno tossed her one. A few shadowy tendrils plucked the poorly thrown ice-made weapon from the air and dragged it to Rumia's hand, before embedding themselves within it. Cold and dark were natural complements, and Rumia having a spear made by Cirno would make her unstoppable, or would have, a thousand years ago. Even today, though, with such a thing, there were few who could stand against her. She could probably- she shook that thought from her head. Reika would complain at her anyway, and something about that girl made Rumia submit to her every whim.

"Everything okay there, Rumia?" Cirno said. The ascended fairy was wielding her favorite sword-n'-board combo.  
"Yeah, just wondering why you'd ever try and use one of those things in a fight. Axes would be better. Axes or maces."  
Cirno rolled her eyes. "This again? We hardly even use the things in a Danmaku match, let me have my fancy weapons."  
"Doesn't mean it isn't better to have something that actually works, in case you need it." Rumia had very quickly lost track of the number of would-be heroes who impaled themselves on her spear trying to get close enough to hit her with their swords back in the day. At least the ones who used useful weapons had put up some semblance of a fight.

Cirno walked right up to the door and knocked. "Hey, Yuuka, get your butt out here, we need to talk!"

Rumia pounded on the door. "Reimu's not dead anymore, and she needs your help!"

Cirno blasted the door open. "Yu-" was all she got out before a massive vine grabbed her and chucked her out the portal between Gensokyo and Yuuka's dreamworld. The vine retreated into the mansion, closing the door behind it.

Rumia sighed. She really would have liked to talk to Yuuka without killing any of her plants, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. She requested another spear from Cirno when the ascended fairy returned, but got nothing more than a confused glance.  
"Isn't it just going to do the same thing to you as it did to me?" she said.  
Rumia shook her head. "You'll see." She hadn't done this since the ribbon came off. It was probably- definitely against the rules, and would probably freak Reika out if the human girl saw her do it, but she didn't see any other way. After getting the extra weapon she'd asked for, Rumia launched it through the door. As expected, the vine came to grab her as it had with Cirno. She let it. After it was thoroughly wrapped around the darkness youkai, she introduced it to the darkness of death. Leaving the brown, withered thing on the ground, she entered the manor, then realized Cirno was standing outside, shocked to inaction. Rumia sighed. "Personal crisis later, please. We have people to beat up and shrine maidens to save."  
Cirno nodded shakily before following her inside.

Neither of them had any idea how the place was laid out, so they spent the next few hours wandering around, trying to avoid killing any more of Yuuka's 'guards'. Of course they would always eventually run out of paths to try, and have to go through rather than around.

Eventually, they arrived at a large double door. Neither of them had been in Yuuka's manor before, but there really wasn't any question. Cirno tried and failed to open the door, then knocked on it.

"Look, Yuuka, we just need to talk to you about something. We're not even here to drag you outside," Cirno said.  
The doors burst open and a girl in a red dress and a sunhat ran out. "Are you friends of Lady Yuuka's? Please, we need help! I think she's dying!"  
Well, that was sudden, unexpected, and unlikely. If she had enough strength to throw giant vines at them, she was probably fine. A trap, then? Was the girl in- and Cirno'd already gone running after her. Rumia shook her head and followed her friend. They would just have to deal with traps as they came. Back the way they'd come, past one of the vines that they hadn't dealt with, and later, without much incident, toward a much grander door than the one the frantic girl had met them at.

The girl seemed to have calmed somewhat, and managed to work the key into the lock. When Rumia got there, the girl finally felt like explaining. "Lady Yuuka's been so distraught for the past ten years. She wouldn't let me go outside to get any help, and I think she's not getting enough fear to survive anymore. I'm sure her reputation helped-"  
"Yeah, we get the picture." Rumia really didn't need to hear what happened when a youkai started to run out of fear. The good news was that she probably wouldn't need her spear, though. Then again, if Yuuka was keeping the girl here, and the girl wasn't the one controlling the vines, she could probably still put up a fight. "We just need to drag her outside and remind a few people of her, right? That's about what we were planning on anyways."  
The girl fidgeted. "W-well, Lady Yuuka really doesn't want to go outside. You'll probably have to… have to…"  
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Now, can we go in already?" Rumia said. Cirno still hadn't spoken a word to her since the first vine. Rumia looked at her friend, who avoided her gaze, then turned back to the girl. "We're on a bit of a schedule, here." From what the girl said, Yuuka wasn't on her deathbed yet, meaning they had a fight in front of them. Rumia readied her spear, and the girl pulled open the door.

A sunken-faced, drawn, disheveled Yuuka Kazami staggered out. Rumia wasn't stupid enough to discount her. She'd been in that same position before. A starving youkai that could still move was far more dangerous than a healthy one. The woman's 'human' look wavered for but a second, revealing what she truly was. Rumia could hardly believe it, but it was right there in front of her. _The_ Yuuka Kazami was just a simple alraune.

"out" A massive laser reminded Rumia that whatever race of youkai she may be, Yuuka was anything but 'simple'. The light hurt her eyes, and she ended up ramming into a wall as she dodged. By the time she'd cleared her eyes and head, she had to move again. She'd just have to hope Cirno was okay, though that was made less likely by virtue of Yuuka aiming specifically at Rumia. The darkness youkai dodged and brought up a shell of shadows, for her eyes. It wouldn't hold against anything the Flower Master could throw at her, but at least she would be blind on her own terms.

Footsteps, fading down the hallway. The girl running, probably.

Wings fluttering, on the other side of the room. Cirno was alright, at least.

A laser charging up. Rumia jerked left, then dodged right. Even with the feint, she nearly- damnit! The laser was too loud, she couldn't hear the other bullets. Tendrils of shadow formed something resembling an arm. It'd grow back later, but for now, she'd have to make due with that.

Ice shards. No hit, coming toward her now. Bounced off her shell.

Laser again. Straight left this time. Not aimed at her anyway. Bullets… three foot gap to her right.

Her own bullets, night bird pattern. A bit more complicated than her wimpy spell card though. Break… now!

No hit.

Pained shout, Cirno. Friendly fire?

Bullets again. Gap three feet left, then dart right. Left. Right. Left. Left again.

Breather. Counterattack. Night bird pattern again. Not an official duel. Moonlight Ray too likely to friendly fire.

Damnit, no hit, still.

A massive slam from the center of the room. Shattering. Any number of ice smash attacks of Cirno's.

Rumia dropped her barrier enough to check what happened. Yuuka was floating above Cirno, who had slammed a massive ice cube into the ground, and was charging a laser. Rumia shot off a quick laser of her own to distract the Flower Master before raising the shell again.

Laser aimed at her now. Straight right-gyah! Entire right side of body, gone. Shadows to stop the blood, keep her conscious. Clearly losing. Spear… still intact. Risk, but going to die otherwise. "Cirno!" Had to hope she understood.

Ice shards. First hit of fight. Focus darkness into spear.

Moving vines. Pained shout, Cirno. Hopefully she was still- Perfect Freeze. Cirno was fine. Alive, at least.

Focus chaos.

Laser, aimed at her. Couldn't move quickly, entire left leg gone.

Focus maintained, but process slowed. Focus destruction.

Pained shout again. Cirno again.

Ready to attack. Grab with shadows, drop shell. Yuuka, about to crush Cirno's skull. No time to think, just attack. "Gae Derg!" About as close to the real thing as that vampire's was to Gungnir, but it still took the Flower Master's right arm off and threw her into the wall. A vine whipped at Rumia, but went through the empty space where her legs used to be.

The darkness youkai rushed down the Flower Master, chomping down on her left shoulder and using her left, and only, arm to tear Yuuka's own from its socket. Yuuka flipped and kicked at Rumia, losing most of her shoulder in the process, but getting the youkai far enough away to put herself in a good position again. Until Cirno clocked her over the head with another giant ice cube, knocking the alraune unconscious.

"Well, that was…" Rumia's voice didn't come out quite as steadily as she'd hoped it would.  
"You look awful," Cirno said. That fight seemed to have reminded Cirno that they were friends.  
"Is that so~?" Rumia did her best to grin, but doing anything other than gritting her teeth in pain was a bit tough when she was missing around seventy percent of her body.  
Cirno chuckled. "Now, let's get her over to Reimu. No good if we did all that for-"  
"Lady Yuuka! What did you do to her!?" The girl from before ran down the hall towards them, with the vampiric guard in tow.  
Cirno chuckled. "You should see the other guy."  
Rumia let all the darkness that wasn't busy keeping what little remained of her insides inside fall away, leaving her as just an arm, the left half of a torso, and a head, floating in the air. "Hello."  
Both girls simply stood there in shock for a moment, before the one with the red dress said "W-well, anyway, we need to get her outside."  
The other one nodded, then said "Uh, why were you all here, anyway?"  
Rumia patted Cirno on the back, then turned into her own shoulder and coughed up blood. She would be fine… eventually…  
"Lots of stuff happened, and Reimu needs Yuuka's help," Cirno said.  
"B-But, isn't Reimu-"  
" _Lots_ of stuff," Cirno repeated.

* * *

Rumia was glad the Hakurei Shrine was relatively close to Yuuka's manor. The woman was surprisingly heavy when Rumia only had one arm. The darkness youkai flopped onto what remained of her back and told Cirno "I'm going to go to sleep. Wake me up when Reika gets back."

"Just make sure you actually wake up. Reika might not trust that you're just sleeping if you don't." Cirno chuckled.

"Mn."

* * *

"Reika, if you've ever wondered why the spell card rules exist, take a good look at your friend there."  
These words stirred Rumia from her slumber, to find herself about halfway through regenerating. In other words, about half of her body that had gotten destroyed during the fight was now a bubbling, black, blobby thing with bits of bone here and there. She wouldn't be moving around anytime soon. "Hey, Reika," she said. The look on Reika's face was almost priceless, but Rumia still felt a bit bad about making her worry.  
The shrine maiden shook her head and said "Well, you look like you had fun." Reimu turned toward her, an eyebrow raised.  
Rumia managed a grin. "Had to be better than listening to Aya all day."  
Reimu groaned. "Don't _even_ get me started."

Cirno chuckled. "Well, our hostage is over here." She gestured to a large block of ice beside her.  
"Still alive, I hope," Reimu said.  
"Barely. She was starving herself, has been for the past ten years. But she's still alive, yeah," Rumia said.  
"Is that so~?" Rumia lifted her head enough to glare at the shrine maiden who so liked to steal her catchphrase.  
"I'd smack you if I had a good arm to do it with," Rumia said. Reika stuck her tongue out at the darkness youkai.  
Reimu looked at her shrine maiden. "Are you sure you're a shrine maiden?"  
Rumia and Cirno couldn't fully suppress their laughter at that. Then Reimu grumbled. "A-anyway, about our hostage. The ice'll come off in about a day. I didn't know how long you'd be gone, so better safe than sorry," Cirno said.  
Reika turned to Reimu and grinned. "Are you sure you're a goddess?"  
Reimu huffed. "Youkai are supposed to be afraid of gods, it's nothing weird."

Reimu leaned against the wall, tapping her foot. "I hope Marisa's okay."  
Reika chuckled. "Oh, she'll be fine. I mean, you haven't seen what she did just a few weeks ago."  
Reimu sighed. "I'm used to that being followed up with a story about how she blew her house up again."  
Reika laughed. "Well, I mean, that happened too, but… Nah, she took on the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion at once because she was bored."  
"I think she was actually testing a new spell or something," Cirno said, "all I know for sure is that there were lots of explosions, and part of my house collapsed. I know the SDM crew lost because they're the ones that helped me fix it."  
Rumia did her best to nod her agreement. "Honestly, the spell card rules nowadays exist just as much to protect us from Marisa as they do to protect the humans from us."

* * *

Note: Wow, I am seriously sorry that this took so freaking long to get out to you guys. Part of it was the wrapping up of what was probably the worst semester I've ever had, but that's no excuse. I've had busier, if less unpleasant, times before, and written more during them than I did this. And writing helps put me in a good mood, so it wasn't just because I was having a bad time. So, once again, sorry. And, to everyone who actually stuck with this throughout the massive break, thank you. On the flip side, though, I did end up writing half of the next chapter before I managed to finish this one, so it shouldn't take too long to get out. It's also(probably) going to be the last chapter, depending on whether my Beta Readers tell me to split it up or not. Yep, we're almost done. Well, thank you again for sticking with me throughout that stupid-long break, all.  
Oh, and also, most of this was written on my phone, so if you notice any typos I missed, please tell me. My phone likes auto'correcting' things. 'Correcting' even though it changes something like gate to something like mate.


	9. Chapter 9

The moment was finally upon them. Marisa had completed all of Yukari's tasks, defeated her shikigami, and was approaching the gap woman, a fire in her eyes despite her exhaustion. Just as Marisa gripped her Hakkero, she gripped her knife. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes. She could show no remorse at her upcoming actions, or everything would fail. She had to be betrayal of the highest form. Hindsight proved her action's worth, but that didn't make it easier to kill her.

She could remember the same situation. Her spirit flowed with her memories.

 _She dragged herself forward. One foot. The other. She was hardly able to fly anymore, and she would need every bit of energy she had left for the upcoming fight. She hadn't eaten or drank in what felt like days. She had run herself with magic for a time, but a Magician she was not. She could only sustain herself like that for so long, and it left her just as drained as she would have felt without, but it let her push herself along. At this point, though, it was just her. That's the only reason she could continue. Her friend needed her help. The psychotic woman in front of her, waiting calmly, a plan to not just kill the most important person in her life, but annihilate her soul as well._

 _Just one more fight, and she could save her friend. So close. All that was left was this one, final obstacle. She raised her weapon, pointed it at the demon in front of her. The demon's eyes, wide with surprise, looking… off to her own left? She glanced to her side, to see her teacher. The person she had trusted with her life, so many years ago. With a knife._

" _I can do this myself, Mima."_

 _Wordlessly, her face as a statue, her teacher dragged the knife across her throat, and plunged it into her chest. No! She-! But-! Reimu..._

Mima looked down at her body, yet gurgling blood, trying to stand. It would only be a few more seconds before she herself could break into tears, but until she was completely dead, she had to remain stoic. The type of inhuman sound only a human could make, that guttural roaring shriek of a name in equal parts rage and grief marked her loss of mind.

"MIMA!"

A blast of pure energy, stronger than any bomb, accompanied Yukari's shout. Mima would've been obliterated had she not shielded herself before hand. She realized now she still didn't have time to grieve yet. She still needed to explain to the gap demon.  
"Lock." A simple spell that would leave her mouth free to speak, but would not let her move or use her own ability.  
"Sh-she was so close! She could've done it!" Yukari screeched.  
"Calm yourself, woman, and let me explain!" Mima laced that with a spell to force her to calm down.  
Yukari only calmed enough to go from screaming to haggard breathing, but she then said "Fine. Explain, and you'd damn well better have a good reason for that."

"After having studied the border for ever since you erected it, I know for a fact that at that time, I was in way over my head."  
"H-what do you mean by that?" Yukari said.  
"I've never told anyone my given name, the one I had while I was alive. I don't suppose you'd like to take a guess?" It would be better if Yukari figured it out herself. People were less doubting when they were the ones who supplied the idea.  
Yukari's breathing slowed, and she closed her eyes. The woman could never resist a puzzle. "N-no, but… You… but, the paradox… It's… Marisa?"  
Mima nodded. "Now, I need you to send her back. Time was never something I studied."  
"H-how did you know I could…?"  
"Aside from that I got here knowing nothing about time magic, but definitely got sent back in time?" Mima said. "Now, quickly, before her spirit becomes sapient again. If she knows too soon, she'll be calmed, and won't become a vengeful spirit. 1500 years ago, now." Mima released the woman from her spell.  
"R-right." A gap swallowed up her body, sending the spirit that would one day be known as Mima a millennium and a half into the past.

Mima sighed, then shook her head. She needed to get used to being Marisa again.  
"Do you regret it?" Yukari said.  
Mima- Marisa shook her head. "It's just… I thought it'd be harder, you know? Killing myself, sentencing a number of people larger than I'd like to say to death… I expected to break down, sob uncontrollably… something. But… If I didn't know better, I'd chalk it up to being an evil spirit now, but I've been around longer than that. I almost have to wonder if I felt something… a bit more than friendship toward her while I was alive."  
Yukari sat next to the floating spirit on the 'ground' of the featureless plane that made up her testing grounds. "If you need to talk, I've been through my fair share of hardships. And I owe you something, for taking this upon yourself."  
Mi- Marisa sat as well. "I appre- It's going to be difficult to be Marisa again, but I promised Reimu. Thanks for the offer, gap hag, but I've been around long enough to know your real name. If anybody should be doing any consoling, it's me. I know I'm going to see Reimu again. From what I remember, you got no guarantees."  
Yukari looked up, opening a gap to have a fitting night sky to look at instead of the grey expanse above her. "Oh, I can see her whenever I want." She gave a mirthless laugh. "I just can't let her see me."  
Marisa shook her head. "Sorry. I should'a known better than to bring that up."  
"No, it's… I figured out a long time ago that I was never getting her back, and I've accepted that. It's nice to think of her every once in a while." A tear on the gap demon's face told the truth.  
Marisa put her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Well, I can tell you, it gets a bit easier with time."  
Yukari tilted her head to look at the spirit. "You're lying, aren't you?"  
Marisa's mouth twitched up slightly, in what one might call a smile, if not for her eyes. "Only a little."

Marisa sighed. "Well, I suppose we should stop stalling. Er, man, it's tough trying to go back 1,500 years. But, we oughta stop stalling, either way. Even if… Do you think Reimu will…?"  
It was Yukari's turn to give a comforting hand. "Well, she was immediately worried I'd kill you, and she's still friends with me, isn't she? I think you'll be fine."  
"Well, then… I'm ready. You?" Marisa said. Yukari nodded, and opened a gap.

* * *

As Yukari had traveled back before her, the first thing Marisa saw was the youkai standing stock-still, looking at… something. When Marisa managed to maneuver around the woman, she found herself in much the same situation. The Hakurei Shrine hadn't seen such attendance… ever, really. Easily several hundred youkai were there, and there were, strangely, a fair number of humans as well. Marisa even saw her father off near the entrance. It seemed like every single tengu, kappa, and oni was present, and even a few gods were gathered as well.

Even more surprising, nothing had gotten destroyed yet, and the atmosphere was… not exactly calm, but not as frantic as one would expect from the attendees. Granted, over half of the humans looked uncomfortable, and they all traveled in one big group, with Keine and Mokou standing guard on either side, and Akyuu in the middle, but they were still present, and smart enough not to throw insults at the youkai which were presently greatly outnumbering them. The oni were drinking as usual, but it seemed like Suika and Yuugi were keeping them mostly in check. 'Lord Tenma' was keeping the tengu from boasting too much and pissing other races off, getting orders from the actual Lord Tenma hidden in the crowd, writing in her notepad and giving tiny hand signals. The kappa were… mostly hanging around the lake out back, so they weren't bothering anyone.

"Now, I would give some big long speech about the future or something, but really, I've been working my rear off the past few days to try and get this all set up, and I don't get nearly enough practice leading people in prayer because nobody ever actually comes here to _pray_ ," Reika's booming voice paused here, and when Marisa located her at the front entrance of the shrine building itself, she was glaring straight at the big group of humans, "so I'm just gonna say that we're about ready to start, so get your butts praying!" With that, Reika headed back inside the shrine itself, and Yukari, shaking her head clear, opened up a gap and gestured Marisa through it. As she entered, she heard the hands of (presumably) everyone in attendance clap together in prayer.

"Well, you're about the last person I expected to come out of there," Reika said as Marisa exited the gap.  
"They'll be here a bit later." Hopefully Yukari got the message. "I had news I thought you might be interested in, but," she looked around to see Reimu crouching on the floor, seemingly concentrating very hard on something, "it can wait until after you're done doing whatever it is you're doing. Which, by the way, would be what, exactly?"  
"Oh, we figured that we'd remind Yukari and Marisa that fixing things around here is our job, and fix the barrier ourselves during their pissing contest. They're both alright, right?" Reika said.

Of course they'd manage to fix it. Thinking about it, Marisa wasn't sure why she ever thought otherwise. Reimu always fixed everything. But, it was alright. It just meant this was the same Reimu she'd always known, right? And, if she hadn't gone through with it, she never would have taught herself magic, and probably would've died before even meeting Reimu. Right. Of course it was worth it. Now, she'd be able to be around Reimu forever, right? Right. One-hundred percent worth it.

"Mima? They are both alright, right?" Reika said again.

Marisa rubbed her forehead. "For a certain definition of the word, yes. They both sacrificed a fair bit to save her, though." She pointed at Reimu. "I think they'd have liked to know about what you were doing beforehand. Although I could see Yukari trying to stop you."  
Reimu began glowing, and the light stung somewhat, but it wasn't anything a quick shield wouldn't fix.  
"O-oh. I guess we probably… I hope they're not too mad at us." Reika messed with one of the strings keeping her pigtails in place.  
"Anyone who's mad at you for doing your job is stupid." Marisa had yet to decide if she was that stupid.  
Reika grinned. "Yeah, thanks. And besides, Marisa always said it was better to go at it from a bunch of angles anyways, so she can't yell at me."

Marisa thought about sabota- no! That was the vengeful spirit. Not Marisa. Marisa should just be happy Reimu was safe. Marisa _would be_ just happy that Reimu was safe, vengeful nature be damned.

"You seem a bit out of it, Mima. Everything alright?" Reika said.  
"Yes, I was merely thinking." It would be easier to explain everything at once, to everyone.

A bright flash erupted from Reimu's kneeling form. Marisa checked the barrier, and it was indeed stronger than it had ever been. Strong enough that it might never need maintenance again. _No. Don't be mad at Reimu. If you need to be mad at someone, you're a good target by yourself. Reimu was just doing her job, and now she's safe._ She _didn't make you kill yourself. You did that all on your own. So, stop being mad at Reimu. She didn't do anything._

"Hey, Mima?" Reika said.  
"Apologies. I've been given a lot to think about, recently."  
Reimu stood, her hand in the crook of her back, stretching. "Ugh, being on the ground like that for so long hurts my back."  
"You sound like an old lady." Not that Marisa herself had room to talk. She was probably one of the oldest people in Gensokyo, now. Older than Yukari, certainly.  
"Look who's talking," Reimu said.

Marisa grinned. Then she let her face fall somewhat. "Teasing aside, I have something important to tell you two about Marisa." Talking in the third person had always felt weird. "Yukari, I think it's time."  
A gap opened, and the gap woman exited it.  
"Wait, you said she was alright!" Reika said.  
Glaring at Yukari, Reimu said "Yukari, what did you-"  
"I _am_ all right. Just not… alive, anymore," Marisa said.  
"Mima? What do you mean 'I'?" Reika said.

Marisa did her best to explain what had occurred to Reimu and her shrine maiden.

"So, you're trying to tell me that you're Marisa?" Reimu said. Marisa nodded. "Don't believe it."  
Marisa's finger twitched. She tensed her muscles.  
"Reimu, as far-fetched as you may find it, I assure you it is true."  
Marisa's hand clenched. She gritted her teeth.  
"Marisa never needed anyone else enough to do something like that for me."  
Marisa's throat tightened. She closed her eyes.  
"I think you might be overestimating her, Lady Reimu. I mean, everybody thinks I do everything all by myself, but Rumia's always with me when I go incident resolving. I don't think anybody can go through life alone."  
Marisa's eyes watered. She drew taut her mouth.  
"You're trying to tell me that Marisa cared enough about me that she'd stop being human just to save me? I don't believe it."  
"She cared enough about you to spend the last ten years researching resurrection. I had to close off the Netherworld to get her to stop pestering Yuyuko."

Reimu sighed. "All right then. Say you _are_ Marisa. Tell me something only Marisa would know, then, huh?"  
For once, her vengeful nature came in handy, supplying the perfect piece of information, and snapping her from her emotional breakdown. She grinned. "Something only I would know? Are you _sure_?"  
"Yes." Reimu's confidence could only mean she had totally forgotten about that.  
"Well, okay then. This is a fun story, everybody, so listen up. So, one time, Reimu n' I were over at my house, and we were both drunk off our asses, and-"  
"NO! NO NO NO NO NO!" Reimu was bright red, and that's all Marisa could tell before she had far too many needles at her throat. "Alright, I'll give you a chance, but only because the Mima I know would never have shut her mouth about that if she knew, and Marisa knew I'd kill her myself if she told anyone."

Considering the past several moments, Marisa wasn't sure whether to laugh, cry, or hug Reimu, so, she did all three. Reimu awkwardly returned the hug, but Marisa didn't care how awkward it was. She'd finally made good on the promise she made Reimu fifteen hundred years ago. That's all that mattered.

* * *

Note: Well, hopefully I foreshadowed all that stuff enough. One of my Beta Readers said yea and the other said nay so...  
Well, anyways there's actually a really big note for the end of this one. Firstly, I kind of think this story is wanting an epilogue. Both of my Beta Readers disagree. That still doesn't make this ending feel any less weird to me, though, so I'll leave it up to you guys, should I write an epilogue or not? Bear in mind that there will be a sequel to this story, but it will not be focusing on Reimu or Marisa. This bit is the reason why this chapter is so much later in the day than usual, I've been spending all day debating whether or not to write an epilogue.

Second, that sequel thing. There's actually two different sequels I plan on writing for this story, and I'm not sure which one to focus on(because I'm going to write them simultaneously due to extreme ADHD). One of them is the obvious one, with Marisa being in the past and being a vengeful spirit and all that nonsense. The other is the far less obvious one that I'm doing because Ex-Rumia and Reika were way too much fun to write, and it'll just be a silly pseudo-slice-of-life thing. There will be a 'main goal' and the story will have 'an end', but mostly it's just going to be Reika and Rumia's day-to-day life after this story. My Beta Readers are split on this one, and I don't really care, because they're both very different things for me, and I like different. Now, if you just want to vote on this and aren't leaving like a review-review(You just want to post which one you'd prefer I do as a main piece, with the other getting less frequent updates), I'd prefer a PM to a review, because I don't want to bog down the reviews for the story with things that won't really help people decide whether or not they want to read it. Now, if you have something to say, about the epilogue or the foreshadowing or any problems I might not even have thought of, and then in that also mention which one you'd prefer, that's fine.

And, finally, thank you all for reading the whole thing and sticking with the stupid-slow updates here at the end.


	10. Epilogue

"Vile spirit! Leave these grounds immediately!"

"Nah."

"Urgh, don't 'nah' me! I am Hanaka, shrine maiden of Lady Reimu Hakurei! If you will not leave willingly, I shall simply have to exorcise you!"

"And it's your own Reimu who invited me here, girlie. So kindly be quiet and go get her."

"Hmph, very well. But, I shall remember your face. And the next time you arrive unannounced, I shall seal you so thoroughly you shall never escape!"

…

"Hey, Marisa. What's up?"

"Just stopping by to say hi. And tell you your new girl's kind of a prat."

"Ugh, you're telling me. It's nothing but headaches with that one."

"Like, I know that Yukari wanted someone a bit more enthusiastic about their job so that the fiasco with Reika didn't happen again, but seriously."

"Speaking of, I imagine you're here because of what she tried with Reika the other day?"

"Yep. You haven't punished her for that yet, have you?"

"No, I know how much you enjoy watching people get their faces pounded in."

"Hey! I'm only a _little_ sadistic."

"Snnrk. I remember the horror stories you yourself told me while you were human."

"I remember no such 'horror stories'. And even I did, that would be masochism, not sadism."

"Haha. Well, before we get to your main attraction, how's Yuuka doing?"

"Haa… pretty much the same. We bring by enough outsiders to keep her alive, but…"

"I swear, if she keeps this up, I'm going to go drag her out of that house myself."

"Haha."

"What?"

"Just remembering the time _I_ had to go and save _your_ shrine from getting taken over."

"You didn't _have_ to anything. I would've taken care of it if things had come down to it. And besides, weren't you just doing it to steal from them?"

"Oh, was I? It was so long ago, I don't remember. Kyahaha!"

"Sometimes I hate you, Marisa."

"I love you too, Reimu~."

"Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!"

"Kyahahahaha!"

* * *

Epilogues are hard... I wrote three of them before deciding on this one, that's why it took so long to come out. And I still don't even like this one that much, I just chose it because it mirrors the beginning and is a specific time instead of being broad like the other ones were. Well, see you all next time, which probably won't be either of the sequels to this, because they're not even close to ready for me to be posting.


End file.
